History in Documents and a Document in History
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5. Do you know the translation of these words?
Text 9. Ostracon
1. Read the text and translate the words and phrases given in bold:
An ostracon is a piece of pottery or stone, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. The word is derived from Greek ostrakon. It means a shell or a shard of pottery used as a voting ballot. In Athens, the voting public wrote or scratched the name of a person in the shard of pottery. When the decision was to banish or exile a certain member of society, citizens wrote the name of the person on the piece of pottery. The vote was counted and if the person was unfavorable he was exiled for a period of ten years from the city. Thus the term ostracism appeared.
Anything with a smooth surface could be used as a writing surface. Ostraca were cheap, readily available and therefore frequently used for writings of messages, prescriptions, receipts, students’ exercises and notes. Pottery shards, limestone flakes, thin fragments of other stone types, etc., were also used for writing, but limestone shards were most common. Ostraca were typically small, covered with just a few words or a small picture drawn in ink.
The importance of ostraca for Egyptology is immense. The combination of their physical nature and the Egyptian climate has preserved texts, from the medical to the mundane, which in other cultures were lost. The many ostraca found at Deir el-Medina provide a brand new view into the medical workings of the New Kingdom. These ostraca have shown that, like other Egyptian communities, the workmen and inhabitants of Deir el-Medina received care through a combination of medical treatment, prayer, and magic.
From 1964–1971 Bryan Emery excavated at Saqqara in search of Imhotep's tomb. Instead, he uncovered the extensive catacombs of animal mummies. Apparently it was a pilgrim site, where as many as 11/2 million ibis birds as well as cats, dogs, rams, and lions were buried. This 2nd-century BC site also contained extensive pottery debris. Emery's excavations uncovered the "Dream Ostraca", created by a scribe named Sebennytos. A convert to the god Thoth, he lived near Thoth's sanctuary at the entrance to the North Catacomb and worked as a "proto-therapist", advising and comforting clients. He transferred his divinely-inspired dreams onto ostraca. The Dream Ostraca contains 65 Demotic texts written on pottery and limestone.
In October 2008, Israeli archaeologist, Yosef Garfinkel of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, discovered the earliest known Hebrew text. This text was written on an Ostracon shard. Garfinkel believes this shard dates to the time of King David from the Old Testament, about 3,000 years ago. The inscriptions are not deciphered yet. However, some words, such as king, slave and judge have been translated. The shard was found about 20 miles southwest of Jerusalem.
Inscriptions on clay, wood, metal, and other hard materials, like papyri, are valuable especially as the literary sources for Early Christianity. They are found chiefly in Oriental countries, especially Egypt. They are pieces of clay or scraps of pots inscribed with colors or ink. The oldest Christian ostraca, like the papyri, are Greek and date from the fifth century; next come the Coptic and Arabian ostraca. Some of the texts not yet deciphered include several Nubian ostraca in a language spoken in the old Christian negro-kingdoms in the vicinity of Aloa on the Blue Nile. In these inscriptions Greek letters are used, with some other signs. Potsherds were often used for correspondence instead of the less durable papyrus. Sometimes the recipient wrote the answer on the back of the potsherd. Ostraca were also used for mercantile purposes, as bills, receipts, etc.
2. Answer the following questions:
1) What is an ostracon?
2) What is the origin of the word ostracon?
3) How did the term ostracism appear?
4) Why was ostraca popular?
5) What other things were used for writing?
6) Why was the use of ostraca important for Egyptology?
7) What medical care did people of Deir el-Medina got?
8) What did Brian Emery uncover in the catacombs in Saqqara?
9) What document did Bryan Emery excavate at Saqqara?
10) Who was Sebennytos and what did Bryan Emery learn about him?
11) What, when and where did Yosef Garfinkel discover?
12) What inscriptions are valuable for Early Christianity?
13) What are the oldest Christian ostraca?
14) What purposes were Christian ostraca used for?
3. Find the English equivalents in the text:
4. Match the words on the left with their definitions on the right.
5. Fill in the correct word(s) from the list below. Use the phrases to make sentences.
piece, brand, limestone, unfavorable, pottery, pilgrim, flakes, scraps, literary, voting, writing, debris
1) …………………… person
2) …………………… of pottery
3) the ………………. of pottery
4) a ………………… ballot
5) a ………………… surface
6) limestone ………………
7) ……………….. shards
8) ………………. new
9) a ………………. site
10) pottery ……………….
11) ……………….. sources
12) ……………… of pots
Revision II.
Check yourself. Can you remember these words?
Module III. Political documents
Text 1. The Code of Hammurabi
1. Study the following words and phrases:
The Code of Hammurabi is one of the few existing examples of an ancient legal code. Although it is not the oldest example of a set of laws, it is one of the better known documents from the Ancient World, and many of the principles spelled out in the document appear in modern legal codes. At one time, many copies existed, but only one has survived to the modern day. For people who would like to see the Code of Hammurabi in person, it is on display at the Louvre in Paris.